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This thought of why I exercise never really crossed my mind. I have been training for sports, health, sanity, ego, enjoyment, pain, drug habit (endorphines/pseudomorphine -a good training session releases them), function…since I was 12 years old. I am 43 now and I have never been in better shape. NEVER. I am a quick, strong (I “play” with 500+lbs. deadlifts) full of energy 5′11″ 168 lbs.regular guy with maybe 8% bodyfat. I am  almost pain free…but really should be crippled. Doctors who know me and my backround prognosticated that I would be somewhat crippled by the time I reached 40. Well, anyone who knows me well enough knows that I DO NOT LISTEN TO DOCTORS. If I did, I WOULD be crippled.

So, really let me give you another list of why I train and why I am THE POSTER CHILD(Grown man actually) for exercise and smart nutrition.

(This list is not necessarily in order of importance. It is more in a chronological order)

1. Scoliosis (30+ years ago doctors thought “you’ll grow out of it”?????

2. Concussion (long fall from high places will get you every time)

3. Broken talocalcaneal joint (motocross)

4. Broken metacarpal (I hit something too hard…too hard)

5. Broken left tibia (Wrestling-Districts)

6.Broken pelvis, internal injuries 3 degree road rash to about 30% of my body (Cars will always win in contact sports with mere mortals)

7. Broken collar bone (Someone landed a cheap elbow shot to my clavicle… soccer)

8. Broken neck, broken sternum, broken cheek bone, serious heart injury from impact to steering wheel…NO SEATBELT…NOT SMART…USE YOUR SEAT BELT!

9.Shattered right tibia, fibula. You know the gruesome injury you see when detached bone and muscle is no longer covered beneath the skin…yeah, that freaky injury. COMPOUND FRACTURE=COMPOUND PAIN! Motocross. Motocross seems to pop up quite a bit on this list.

10.Broken right hip. Motocross

11. Broken left hip, 2 very deep lacerations (wait, I think I see some radius, ulna and some forearm muscle deep lacerations) + Can you say staphylococcus? How about FUNKY, UNCONTROLLABLE staph infection? (Mountain Bike CRASH!!! Funny- “CRASH” was a nickname my dad gave me about 15 years ago. Why? I do not know.)

12. Concussion. Skate board accident.

13. I love my wife and our 3 boys. I will not be crippled. I will always be strong, alive and an inspirational role model for our children. I love my life and I love what I do. I help people get strong, get healthy, stay strong, stay healthy… and it don’t get much better than that. 

So please share a bit of your life. It may inspire others.

Why Do You Train? I want to know…

Most people “bumout” when they have their sites or hopes set  on something and it simply craps out.

The positive spin on this would be to look at these “closed doors” as God’s way of ”setting you up” to create and become someone even greater than you  ever thought possible. 

There is ALWAYS more room for GREATNESS! Your dream is still in you. You just have to get in and DRIVE the DREAM. GET THERE…

There is a great woman who has been a part of my fitness boot camps since last May.  One thing that has caught my attention since the first day that I had met her is this consistent and sensational smile she brings with her EVERY single time you see her. Today she brought me and everyone in the boot camp class a printed writing that someone gave her over thirty years ago. This is what it says:

Anonymous:

A smile costs nothing but creates much.

It enriches those who receive without impoverishing

those who give. It happens in a flash and the

memory of it sometimes lasts forever.

None are so rich they can get along

without it and none so poor but both

are richer for its benefits. It creates

happiness in the home, fosters good will

in a business and is the

countersign of friends. It is rest to the weary,

daylight to the discouraged, sunshine

to the sad and nature’s best antidote

for trouble. Yet it cannot be bought,

begged, borrowed or stolen; for it is

something that is no earthly good to

anybody until it is given away. Nobody

needs a smile so much as those

who have none left to give.  

when you are sitting around and think to your self “I should really tell my child how proud I am of her/ him”. Haven’t you ever thought that?  My wife and I have three boys, and man how quickly they grow up. Our eldest son is 10. SMART! SMART!SMART! Has always been smart. We knew he had a gift when he was literally running around the house before he turned 10 months, and later on when he was 2; we were already having full on conversations with him.  

Our middle son, who is 8 now, is an incredibly sensitive boy. He is smart in his own right, and has a laugh that simply stops you in your tracks and mesmerizes you into a world of childhood giddy.

Then, we have our third boy. Let’s just say that he has pulled some of  the dispositions characteristic of his two older brothers together, and tweaked them so as to define him.
And to try to define him would not do him justice. He will give us a “run for our money”. No doubt!

All three of our boys bring us joy…everyday! They are not perfect, and they do manage to test us from time to time. But, I have to say this; there was a time when I said that I would not let one of those single moments go when I have an opportunity to let them know how blessed I feel to know them and how proud of them I am. They give me these opportunities everyday, but it has recently occurred to me that I have not seized these moments as I thought I would.

Tonight I was training a client in my studio, and my son and wife popped their heads in to tell me some exciting news. Matt received his yellow belt in Shotokan Karate. He had this wonderful smile of pride on his face. I went up to him and said, “I knew your kata was that good that you would receive your belt. I am so proud of you. I love you my man.” He just looked at me, with this wonderful smile of pride on his face. And, right then and there I realized  that there are these special times in life that are your life… looking right back at you from a thirty year old mirror. 

 I had this wonderful smile of pride on my face…  

You decide…

Have you seen the latest commercial where this guy is sitting in a doctor’s examination room and the doctor knocks and opens the door to deliver some bad news. The doctor enters and says you have lung cancer… then enters again and says you have heart disease… emphasema… throat cancer…

Then the narrator says “if you haven’t planned on quitting smoking, what ARE you planning on?”

Well, I like when a strong message is being made without all the fluff. You know… NO B.S., straight to the point stuff.

And being in the fitness/wellness industry, I would like to see a commercial showing a fat guy sitting on a doctor’s examination table WAITING for SOME news from his doctor: 

Knock, knock…”Mr.____ I’m sorry…You have heart disease… You have diabetes… You have colon cancer…”

Narrator: “If you thought you would get around to taking better care of yourself… How are you going to get around this?”

Love to hear your thoughts…

O.K. the economy does SUCK!

IT IS SUCKING wind…  GASPING for air… and CRAWLING on it’s hands and knees…

Alot of things are out of our control, right?

Maybe, but here is a little !WARNING! That you might not

even be considering at the moment.

A recent article published in USA TODAY stated that

out of 100 small business owners who had to lay off

employees, 90% said that the first ones to go would

be the ones who were the least productive.

Least productive would mean the ones who frequently:

- call in sick

-show up late to work

-leave early

-miss deadlines

-complain to other staff members

Hey, in the job market right now

ALL BETS ARE OFF

So the least all of us can do is

First -(if guilty) STOP doing any and

ALL of the above!

Second- HEDGE YOUR STAKE in your company

by taking better care of yourself.

HOW?

For one, make healthy food choices that will help keep you out of sick bay

Next, Get your butt in a kick ass exercise program at your health club,

local boot camp, etc. and STICK TO IT! Studies have shown that people who

are more fit are much better performers in the work place.

SERIOUSLY consider”Dropping” anyone, yes, ANYONE around you who is doom and gloom!

And, if you are deciding to PROCRASTINATE till the New Year…

Please, stop kidding yourself! That New Year’s resolution thing has got to be the most ridiculously

defective,  ill thought-up, ineffective solution to your well-being ever conceived.

Hey, I am no naturalist, but that Darwin Theory of Evolution

SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST

makes alot of sense right about now!

I am sure you agree.

If not, give me a shout and we can talk about it

Peace-

Matt

I just got back from the bowling alley.

I was with my wife and our three boys, along with

some friends and more family.

Anyway, tonight I just wanted to kick back and watch.

(Just in that kind of mood I guess.)

I was watching my family and they were all having a fine time.

Especially my wife who always seems to be fighting for Bowler of the

Night bragging rights with my younger brother. (Kathy won)

But, during the time I was watching my family this guy strolls up to the lane

Next to them with full-on bowling gear i.e. high end shoes, glove, his own custom ball

and bag of resin. When he stepped up to the lane and delivered some mad speed, big hooks to the left

I thought we were in for a “show from a pro”.

Ahh, no. This is what went down.

Killer technique, freaky speed and a dizzying rotation

That never really seemed to bring on the hook he was looking for.

RESULT: 3 pins, 7 pins- some spares, not 1 strike. NOT 1 STRIKE!

“Are you kidding me?” I thought.

I’m no pro bowler. And, even if I get a strike it is some small miracle.

But, it seemed a simple solution that if this guy would have just moved a little left on his lane he would have

been hammerin’ some mad pins and painting those frames full of X’s all night long. The definition of “insanity” does fit in here some where.

I know it is bowling, but…

A simple example that shows you can have all the right tools, and get nominal results.

Well, in my book nominal results are really NO RESULTS.

So, how can I relate this to exercise and nutrition?

REAL SIMPLY…

FIND the right tools like my 4 week mini boot camps (sorry, exclusive to my studio…but, I’ll share some video in the next week or so)

USE the right tools. DO NOT SKIMP ON YOUR TRAINING. And if you want to lose weight, eat better foods and add a 0 to what you want to weigh and that will be your daily caloric intake. And on days you train, add 200-300- calories to that.

NEVER look back. You are where you are. If you can make improvements then YOU make improvements. And that means all of the above + CHANGE YOUR MINDSET! If is broken…CHANGE IT DAMMIT! You will be happy you did.  

Now, what does that spell? That’s right baby…FUN!

Please, take this simple advice and that is what you are going to have a little more of in your life…FUN!

And that mad pro bowler wannabe who just would not figure out an obvious solution to his bowling woes…He was NOT having fun. Poor guy.

I’m sure one day he will figure it out.

You will surely hear (and see) from me soon…

Peace-

Matt

I really do not know.

But, right now I need to let

ALL of you know that I

THANK YOU!

Thank you for reading my e-mails…

Thank you for believing in my training programs…

Thank you for all of your hard work in the SHIFT TRAINING STUDIO…

Thank you for making better food choices…

Thank you for realizing that you come first…

So, now your family can have the best YOU to share with them…

THANKYOU! THANKYOU! THANKYOU!

Because…

YOU GET IT!

This is a quick story I feel says it all.

Back in the beginning of the year, Kathy and I enrolled our son Matt in a Karate school on the other side of town. We chose this school because it was highly recommended by some good friends of ours. Their two children are friends with Matt, and have been going to this dojo for a number of years and just loved it. So, in late February Matt took a week trial to see if he would enjoy it as well. After Matt’s first day at the dojo, he was hooked! He didn’t need to finish his trial. We were all very excited about Matt’s new found joy in the martial arts. But, one key factor made us convinced that we made a wise choice. The sensei who operated and TAUGHT at the JUDO and Kudokan Karate school had a great gift of engaging kids and adults in his passion for the martial arts. It was not just the arts themselves, but all of the character building traits that he knew were the most important ideals that he was able to share and instill in so many people that he came in contact with. Character building is a new and important concept for children (confidence, discipline, persistence, integrity, respect, honesty, loyalty) and this guy just had this wonderful knack of introducing it to young kids. For the grown ups, watching and listening to his manner and methods when teaching our kids gave us a little “re-adjustment” in how we might be slacking a bit in our parenting skills. But, for me there was one thing that stuck in my mind that he said every time someone came into his dojo and asked how he was doing that day. “How are you today, sensei Kris?” his response-“SUPER TERRIFIC, ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC, AND GETTING BETTER EVERY DAY, THANKYOU”. Not “I’m feeling a little tired”, or “Ah, alright”, or the common “same old stuff, different day” non-sense. Just a quick and witty-“SUPER TERRIFIC, ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC, AND GETTING BETTER EVERYDAY, THANKYOU”. I always thought” what a great response, I gotta use that one”. And, even more so I thought,” what a great MESSAGE for our kids to hear”. That was by itself an incredible example of optimism that I bet more kids picked up on than we think. I hope so, anyway.

In March, on an early Tuesday morning, we received a phone call from a friend that just the night before, not long after our son’s Karate class, Sensei Kris Rosenthal passed away suddenly at his dojo. First thing I thought was “pray for his soul and for his wife and two kids he left behind” And, then my heart just broke because I knew this would be devastating news to my son and his friends at the dojo and all of the people sensei Kris touched through his love of not just the martial arts, but his love of people. Sensei Kris was a one in a million kind of person who left a gift for ALL of us…”SUPER TERRIFIC, ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC, AND GETTING BETTER EVERYDAY, THANKYOU”.

                           SENSEI KRIS ROSENTHAL- (1964-2008)